


Attention

by Apiaristic, br0jangles



Series: Kink Spinner Shenanigans [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Couch Sex, Floor Sex, M/M, POV Alternating, PWP, Quadrant Confusion, Roleplay Logs, Troll Anatomy (Homestuck), distracted sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apiaristic/pseuds/Apiaristic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/br0jangles/pseuds/br0jangles
Summary: Karkat is paying more attention to his video game than to Dave, and that has to change.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Series: Kink Spinner Shenanigans [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647400
Comments: 6
Kudos: 128





	Attention

"You suck, Captor, I'm gonna beat your ass into the ground."

"Says you, Vantas, you play like a twelve year old girl."

The violent clicking of buttons echoed around the lounge as Karkat thumbed his controller and cursed his friend over his headset.  _ Super Smash Bros _ , with its bright colours and exciting play, Karkat was content on his eighth round of the game, whooping when he won the next segment.

"Suck on that, you idiot!" Karkat insulted.

"Don't be childish." Sollux's voice came over the headset, crackling with distaste. "I've beaten you all these other rounds."

Karkat waved his hand at the air, as if Sollux could see him, as they set up the next game.

Nepeta's voice came over the headset next. "You two have issuesssss, you should talk it out, n-yah?"

"Leave it be, lets just play the game.” Tavros.

Karkat stuck his tongue between his teeth, deadly focused on the screen. "Get ready, lowlives. I'm gonna wreck your sorry asses."

"Language, Karkat."

Dave comes out of his room, rubbing sleep-bleary eyes, to find Karkat sitting on the couch in the dark and yelling at the television.

Well, that explains the noise. Dave didn’t need sleep anyway, right?

He plops down next to Karkat and lays his head on his shoulder. His eyes are closed, hair a mess, wearing his pajamas with no shades on.

He yawns and says, “You’re fucking loud, dude. It’s past midnight.”

Karkat spares Dave a single glance, and then pushes at him with his shoulder, pulling a face.

"Go back to fucking bed then," he mumbles, hissing when he misses the combo he was trying to hit on his remote because he had turned to Dave. He glares, and then curses loudly, throwing his arms up.

"Aw, Fuck you, Nepeta!"

_ "Whaaaaa? Thats mean, Karkat!" _

The troll scowls, narrowing his eyes as he adjusts his headset and focuses back on his game, ignoring Dave in favor for listening to his friend’s voices over the phone and playing his video game.

Dave narrows his eyes at Karkat after being pushed away. That’s how it’s going to be? Bring it on, asshole.

He knows Karkat isn’t listening. It’s a waste of breath to talk to him, really. Karkat is stupid competetive, and not a single damn thing will pull his attention away from the game. Even if he never wins, much to Dave’s great amusement.

“Take responsibility for waking me up, prick,” he says. But again, he knows Karkat isn’t listening. So instead, he wraps his arms around Karkat and pulls him into his lap. He rests his chin on Karkat’s shoulder and keeps his arms wrapped around his middle.

“Pay attention to me.”

"W- hey-!" Karkat doesn't silence his yelp of confusion as Dave pulls him into his lap, and he's distracted for a moment enough to make him lose his round, which brings on another wave of angry insults. "Fucking damn it all! Lemme go, you stupid—"

_ "You okay, Karkat?" _

_ "Yeah, what’s up with you?" _

"Nothing!" The troll snaps angrily giving in after uselessly shoving at Dave and trying to squirm from his lap, to no avail. 

The next round starts, and Karkat is ruthless. His fingers fly across the control, and he's cursing everyone who dares try and defy his character.

Dave hums, content to have Karkat against him now. He stays just like that, comfortable, warm, slowly waking up as the sounds of the game fill his ears.

Another round passes on screen and another starts. Dave turns his face into Karkat’s neck and keeps his eyes closed, simply staying close, breathing in the familiar smell of his friend. He could almost fall asleep like this again, but then.

Then he has an idea. 

A bad idea? Probably.

Is he going to do it anyway? Abso-fucking-lutely.

He tightens his arms around Karkat just slightly, just enough to shift the troll deeper into his lap. Then, he presses a tentative kiss into the base of Karkat’s neck.

"I'm going to ruin your life, you glasses-wearing dipstick."

_ "Mature. Real mature." _

Karkat continues to spout crabby insults, his legs still half-crossed as he sits comfortably in Dave's lap. He makes a noise in his throat when he's pulled back a little more, but he only responds by spreading his legs out in front of him and giving up, leaning into the blonde's touch comfortably.

Its when Dave kisses his neck that his fingers freeze on the keys, and he looses again. Sollux's cheers of smugness make him snarl, and he glares at Dave over his shoulder with a look of;  _ What the fuck do you think you're doing? _

"Thats not fair."

_ "Its totally fair, Karkat, I won." _

"I'm being-"

_ "Being what?" _

"Distracted!"

_ "By what? Its midnight. Be un-distracted." _

Karkat grumbles and rolls his shoulders, preparing for the next game.

"I'm going to ruin you, Sollux."

_ "Try." _

Dave can’t help the little thrill he gets while Karkat defends himself to his friends. If just a little kiss can distract him that much, and he can _ get away with it _ , what else can he get away with?

He kisses Karkat’s neck again, and again, moving up to whisper in his free ear. “This is what you get for waking me up.”

The two of them haven’t talked about what happened between them since that night; and that was two weeks ago now. Dave’s feelings have settled down, and he’s assuming Karkat’s have too, since they never brought it up.

But Dave is feeling brave again, and he liked it so much the first time… Why not push a little and see what Karkat lets him have?

He resists the urge to dip his hand right into Karkat’s pants. No, he needs to test the waters first. And he can’t have Karkat exposing them over the headset, so…

Dave eases his hand down to grope at Karkat’s inner thigh.

Karkat's voice shakes when he speaks next, and he shivers, a testament to Dave's hand on him. What is he doing, touching him like this, now, of all times?! 

"How many more r-ou-, rounds are we going to play?"

_ "Until you accept that I'm superior." _

He hisses at that, and again when Dave mumbles something about this being punishment, but he can't help the shiver of arousal the thought brings him. He can't let his friends know whats going on, but he can't just give up on the game, and a part of him doesn't want Dave to  _ not _ touch him.

He's been aching for him to touch him like they did a while ago for two weeks.

_ "Karkat, dude. Pick a character." _

It takes the troll a minute to realise that his team is waiting for him. He blinks, thumbs through selection until he finds the character he wants, hoping that he'll actually win this time.

He gives Dave a warning glance before looking back to the screen, squirming a little and half-trying to tuck his crotch away from Dave's hand, though without much effort.

He's not going to stop him. That'd require putting the remote down, admitting defeat,  _ giving up _ and letting Sollux reign smug over him.

And fuck that.

Dave smirks into his kisses. Karkat could easily get up if he didn’t want Dave to keep touching him, and he hasn’t. That must mean Dave has the green light, right?

He doesn’t hesitate now. He leaves wet, open mouthed kisses along Karkat’s neck, sucking here and there just to see if he squirms.

He slides his hand up Karkat’s thigh until he’s palming Karkat’s crotch through his sweatpants. He can’t feel a bulge yet, but he wonders if Karkat is getting wet.  _ How _ wet, exactly?

He has to  _ know. _

So he rubs Karkat through the sweats a few more times, stroking over the fabric. Arousal spikes through him, just thinking about what lies underneath. His cock stirs with excitement, and that’s it, he’s  _ going for it. _

He lifts his hand, only to immediately slide it beneath Karkat’s waistband. His fingers slip down, searching, until they slide easily through Karkat’s slick.

_ Christ, _ this has no reason to be as hot as it is, but Dave catches a breath while just his middle finger slides between Karkat’s nook.

Karkat is so intensely focused on his game that the open-mouthed kisses Dave is leaving on his neck barely elicit a grunt. He's sticking his tongue out in concentration, but when Dave suddenly starts to palm at his crotch, a spike of pleasure shoots up his spine, and he's biting down onto his tongue so hard he squeaks.

"Ow, Fuck-" He curses, letting a groan slip between his teeth as Dave touches him. Fuck, fuck him! 

"Karkat?"

"I bit my fucking tongue!"

"Owie! You're okay, n-yah?"

"I'm fuckin' fine."

"Dumbass."

Tavros sighs into the headset, and Karkat is jamming his fingers into the buttons hard to try and distract himself from how Dave is grinding his hand against him. Noises climb up his throat, grunts, mewls, weak moans, but Karkat swallows them all down, with a lot of effort. He's squirming now, supplementing his lack of noise with an excessive amount of body language, and he chokes on air when suddenly, Dave's hands are in his pants. 

He needs to moan. Fuck, he needs to make a noise, to let out the tense air he's holding in his chest, to relieve the tension in his ribcage and to let Dave know that fuck, it feels good. 

He remains, mostly, silent, glaring hard at the screen while his sharp teeth dig into the meat of his cheek and his eyes water with the effort. He doesn't realise he's holding his breath until he notices his bulge growing, and it forces the air out of him in a sharp huff, at promptly the sane time as he looses.

"I might—" Karkat struggles to keep his voice even. "I might have t- to go and f-fucking—"

"Are you running, Karkat? You've only won one round."

That does it.

With a renewed vigor that he hopes will stick around long enough for him to make it through the next few rounds, he makes a filthy comment about Sollux' lusus that sends the next round into a brutal deathmatch with Tavros and Nepeta simply watching from the sidelines. 

He can feel himself starting to soak his sweatpants. His bulge is writhing and slipping between Dave's fingers now, seeking touch, and its slowly driving Karkat mad.

"I'm going to kill you." He mumbles to Dave, not caring if anyone hears the threat through the microphone, considering they'll assume it was aimed at Sollux.

His suspicions are confirmed as he keens into Dave's hand with a silent gasp, and Sollux answers; 

"Yeah, sure."

Dave is, at least, impressed by Karkat’s resolve to keep going. Dave would have already shut the game off and been kissing all over Karkat right back, if Karkat did this to him, but this. This is interesting.

He wonders if he can make Karkat moan into the mic. He wonders if he can make Karkat  _ purr _ into the mic.

He takes it as his own personal challenge. The troll is already stammering, it should be easy.

Dave’s got both hands in Karkat’s pants at this point. He’s got two fingers of one hand stuffed inside, while his other hand gives Karkat’s bulge something to wrap around. It slips and slides between his fingers, wrapping around,  _ squeezing. _ He remembers the way that bulge assaulted his throat, just two short weeks ago, and damn, his dick is definitely hard against Karkat’s ass now.

He bites his lip, pausing in his neck kisses to consider that he wants to  _ fuck _ Karkat. Fingering him is nice and all, but what would it be like to have his cock buried in that hot, wet nook?

As if on cue, it clenches around his fingers, and has Dave letting out a hot breath against Karkat’s neck.

“I want… to fuck you…” he says. It’s quiet, but it’s definitely not a whisper. He doesn’t really give a shit if they can hear him over the headset or not. He  _ wants it, _ and he needs Karkat to tell him no if he  _ doesn’t _ want it.

He grinds his hips up in earnest, letting out a soft moan in wanting. He’s not jacking himself off in the shower this time, he refuses.

Damn it, Karkat wishes he was telepathic. He wants to be able to tell Dave yes, fuck, yes, but just let him finish his game first. Let him get off the microphone so Dave can push his face into the carpet and rail him into the floor like the world is ending.

He does kind of owe it to Dave, doesn't he? He sat on his face, made him gag on his bulge, and woke him up at midnight. The least he can do is let him have this if he's not even going to pause his game to say thanks.

Shit, he can already feel the coil in his abdomen growing, his bulge writhing and coiling tight around Dave's fingers, and Karkat is suddenly desperate. Fuck the quadrants, fuck palemates, fuck matesprits, moirails, fuck the system, fuck  _ Dave _ . 

He shakes, his thighs spreading apart subconsciously for Dave in a way that has Karkat's cheeks turning as red as his blood, and its not until he feels and tastes blood that he realises he's sinking his teeth hard into his bottom lip.

When Sollux cries in excitement over his next win, and yells profanities back at Karkat, the troll takes the moment to let out a quiet, desperate little whimper, rocking his hips back down against Dave. Fuck, it feels so good. His muscles are tensing and relaxing in time with Dave moving his fingers, and he's wet, he's so fucking wet.

Dave's moan has him falling apart at the seams, and he wants more. More. He wants to hear more, feel more, he wants more of Dave, all of Dave, and fuck, he wants it as bad as he wants to win this game, so when the character select screen appears again, and Sollux is done cheering himself, Karkat feels himself cinch around Dave's fingers again in excitement, and he nods, shivering.

_ Do it. _

It doesn’t go unnoticed that Karkat has stopped talking. Dave takes as much pride in that fact as he does in the little whine that Karkat makes.

He takes Karkat’s spread legs as a loud, resounding  _ fuck yes. _ He wastes no time in pushing Karkat’s pants down around his thighs. His fingers are wet, god, they’re fucking slippery, and he struggles a bit to get his own shorts down. With his hands on Karkat’s hips, he encourages the troll to lift up a bit, just enough to get his shorts down and free his aching cock.

His hands are trembling as he lines himself up. He’s  _ excited, _ so fucking turned on, he doesn’t even warn Karkat before pushing inside. He lets Karkat drop his hips again, forcing him all the way in, all at once.

“Shit, Karkat,  _ fuck-- _ ”

That was definitely too loud, but he can’t  _ help it. _ Karkat is just as tight and hot inside as he imagined, and he has to bite down on Karkat’s shoulder to keep his voice down. He wraps his arms around Karkat’s waist again and hugs him tight as he grinds his hips up, thrusting shallowly where he’s stuffed so deep inside.

“Put the- the game down…” he urges. He’s done playing now, and he wants to fuck Karkat properly over the couch.

“ _ Kiss me, _ ” he demands.

Karkat isn't really even playing the game anymore. He's too distracted, torn between two things, shaking so bad he can barely hold onto the controller. The sensations playing havoc on his bulge and nook are driving him mad, and he's losing the will to care that Sollux just keeps winning. He wants to moan, he wants to swear, to cry, to beg, to relieve the ache in his chest, to vocally display how fucking good Dave's fingers feel inside him, to express how fucking aroused he is. His boxers are soaked when Dave pushes them down, and he's rocking his hips, bulge writhing in the air and curving up towards Karkats stomach, trying to find something to grab.

Then, Dave is pushing into him, and he's losing it. He's dropping one hand from the controller to the floor, and he's gasping, a rumble in his chest, and he's- 

"Ka- Karkat. Are you purring? You do realise that you're NOT, winning, right?"

Shit.

Every exhale of breath comes with a vibrato of rumbles, and that’s it, that’s it.

He slams the controller down, his friends clamoring over the headset, asking about what’s going on, and then Karkat tosses the speakers to an unnamed corner of the room, shutting the game off and muting himself all at once. His headphones are probably broken now, but fuck that, he doesn't care. Finally, he's moaning, throwing his head back and gasping, the pent-up tension in his chest finally relieving as Karkat lets his voice out, his chest rumbling with purrs and weak mewls as he rocks back against Dave and twists in a pitiful attempt to catch his mouth.

"Y-ou-, I w-ould have w-o-n- F-u-ck y-ou, fuck, you, Dave—" Karkat manages, breath hot against Dave's mouth as he spreads his legs further apart and bucks his hips back, because he needs Dave deeper, he needs him harder, he needs him to fuck him like he means it. He's noticing the stretch now, the slight ache of his nook around Dave's thick cock stuffed into him after a long, long time of having done nothing like this. The slight pain feels like heaven as much as the pleasure does, and tears, tears are welling in his eyes with the desperation of it all.

“Sorry,” Dave mutters, but he definitely does not fucking mean it. He can’t get a proper kiss on Karkat’s lips, and he’s frustrated, wants more,  _ needs _ more.

“Get up…” he breathes, at the same time as his hands start pushing at Karkat’s sweatpants. “Off… and turn around…”

He can’t form whole sentences, his brain feels like it’s short circuiting. He feels  _ empty _ and desperate as Karkat gets up. They each scramble to get their pants off, and then Karkat is back in his lap, thighs wrapped around his hips, sinking back down on his cock again.

Dave finally catches Karkat’s lips in a real kiss. Their first kiss?? That doesn’t matter, all that matters is how right Karkat feels in his lap, and how badly he wants to fuck up into him.

So he does, holding tightly onto Karkat’s hips as he thrusts up.

“You’re so…  _ god, _ so fucking good, ‘Kat. Purrs are so cute...”

The urgency of it all is just as hot as Karkat thought it might be. He has his pants and boxers off in record time, and he's sinking down onto Dave's cock even faster. He didn't think it'd ever feel this good, but the blonde is hitting all of the right places, he's just big enough, just thick enough, just fucking perfect, enough, that its driving Karkat mad. 

At some point, maybe, he'd be flustered that Dave called him cute. But right now, he doesn't care. Dave could call him a whore and Karkat would take it, he'd be anything for Dave right now, anything.

When Dave kisses him, he's only shocked for a second before he's sloppily returning it, with probably too much tongue, too much moaning, too much hot breath. He can't find it in himself to care, though, because it feels good, it feels so fucking good. 

Karkat's hands scramble for something to hold onto as he hooks his legs around Dave, and he's fisting at his shirt, at his shoulders, hooking his arms around his waist, but nothing feels right until he's got his arms around Dave's neck and he's fisting at the hair at the back of his scalp, carding through his locks and tugging gently every time Dave hits somewhere inside of him that makes Karkat keen.

"Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave," Karkat chants, shaking apart as he shucks his hips down onto the others cock, impaling himself easily and eagerly. He's literally vibrating with purrs and moans, his eyes blissfully shut as he tosses his head back, breaking the kiss to arch his back, toes curling into the carpet. "Fu-ck,  _ a-h, oh, oh, oh-! Dave!~ _ "

The hands in Dave’s hair do something to him that he can’t fucking handle. He clutches Karkat close, holding him, kissing every bit of skin he can get his mouth on.

The way Karkat chants his name, broken and slurred between purrs. The way his walls hug Dave just right. The eager way Karkat bounces on his cock… He can’t take it. It’s all too much.

“I’m close…” he warns. He’s not sure how much longer he can hold on like this. He wants Karkat to finish with him, though, wants to cum with him, so he brings a hand between them to wrap around Karkat’s bulge again.

Karkat is a weeping, shaking mess, pulling on Karkats hair, gasping, his face contorted into one a pornstar might wear.

Now he know why they look like they do.

He's close to crying. He has a weird kind of clarity as his orgasm builds, like the pleasure and the moment has all slowed down and given him a sudden surety.

_ He's red for Dave. _

He's sure of it now. Maybe its actually just a middle-of-sex moment of stupid, but the way he's holding him, the way he's talking to him, all down to the way he  _ kisses _ him—

"I'm close t-oo," Karkat mumble-moans, bucking his hips into Dave and whimpering, purring loudly as he clings to Dave and leans forward to rest his forehead on the blonde's shoulder, shivering. "F-uck, Dave, I- I'm... I'm so fucking red..." He adds, not sure if Dave will understand what he means, half talking to himself as he cinches around Dave, moaning, close, close, close—

_ Red? _ Karkat is  _ red _ for him?

Dave can’t process what that is supposed to mean. He knows that it means Karkat has feelings for him, but how stong exactly is  _ red? _ He didn’t say  _ flushed, _ he said  _ red, _ and holy shit, Dave is so close, he can’t deal with it right now, fuck--

In the next moment, Dave is completely overcome with his orgasm. He bucks hard up into Karkat, cum spilling hot and heavy inside his friend. His friend that just said  _ red _ to him while they were having sex on the couch in their living room.

His mind plays it over and over again as he tugs Karkat in to kiss him again, desperate, hungry, like he never wants to do anything else.

Karkat huffs, brows drawn in tight, and he gasps as he feels Dave topple over the edge inside him, and then his nook cinches, and he's milking Dave for all he's worth as he too spills over and finishes with gasping moans and cries, muffled eventually by Dave's kiss.

He's shaking apart in his arms, purring louder than he ever thought he could, and murmuring pleads under his breath as his climax wracks his form, sweat dripping down his back and forehead as he moans into Dave's kiss.

His hands drop to his shoulders, and he fists Dave's shirt and drops his head to rest it on Dave's chest like he's praying, catching his breath as the tremors in his thighs calm and his bulge finishes writhing in Dave's hand and retreats.

Dave holds Karkat tight, letting the troll cling to him for as long as he needs to catch his breath. Slowly, he grows soft inside Karkat, and he’s forced to shift his hips to pull away. He pets a comforting hand through Karkat’s sweaty hair and nuzzles into his neck.

He doesn’t want to have to say it. But the calmer he gets, the further he comes down from his high… he knows that he has to.

“Karkat, we… need to finally have that talk. Do you want to get changed and meet me back here, or…?”

He keeps his arms securely around Karkat, trying to let him know that he’s still here and he’s not going anywhere.

Fuck. The talk. He doesn't know if he wants to have it, if he wants to answer for his vague murmur in the heat of the moment, or if he wants to hear how Dave feels, but- He knows. He knows they have to.

It takes him a moment, but he nods slowly, eventually pulling his hands from Dave and drawing away with a feeble whine. He's still purring, but as soon as he's away from Dave, on his own two feet, it stops, and he's gathering up his clothes.

"Yeah. Yeah, Okay." He says, voice a little hoarse from yelling over his mic, and moaning, and purring.

He knows its probably concerning, the way he doesn't spare Dave a glance as he shuffles to his room and drops his clothes.

Instantly, he's pacing. Fuck. Why'd he have to be so stupid? He should have been clearer, he should have thought about it more. And now Dave wants to talk, and Karkat has no idea if he wants to hear what he has to say.

He peels his shirt off, because its sweaty, and he feels sweaty, and there’s suddenly an odd feeling of disgust. He feels— dirty, almost. Why does he feel dirty?

The ensuite attached to his room provides enough for Karkat to have a shower. Genetic material slips down his legs, and when he slips a hand between himself, there’s a sticky whiteness that makes him grimace until he takes a moment to consider what it is. Humans have genetic material too, don't they? It only makes sense that Dave would have... deposited some. That’s probably why he feels gross. Its sticky, wet, slimy, and squishes between his thighs and ass in a way that has Karkat scrubbing until he's sore. Its not that Dave disgusts him, or the idea of his... deposit, is disgusting, its just the feeling of it..The texture. The colour. White? Why white?

He's out of the shower after a moment, and he's standing in front of the mirror, brushing his fingers over the marks on his neck, on his thighs, the little bruises that are forming, and a slow, low purr surprises him. Its gone after a moment, and Karkat's reaching for clean clothes, glancing over his grub scars with little conviction as he pulls his shirt on. He tries to make his hair neat, but he knows it won't stay for long.

Boxers and clean sweatpants later, Karkat is standing in his room, and its messy. Its agitating. He wants to clean it. He wants to clean it.

Dave wants to talk.

He wants to clean his room.

Dave wants to fucking talk.

He gives an audible yell-groan of anxiety and annoyance, and snatches up blankets and pillows for the inevitable pile he'll make, and ventures back to the lounge.

Dave is quiet while he cleans himself up. He has a lot to think about in a very short period of time.

But then again, he doesn’t. He already knows what he wants to say. It’s just going to be a matter of getting Karkat on board with the idea, and that’s the part he doesn’t know how to feel about.

If Karkat even  _ wants _ to be on board. But if what he said a few minutes ago is anything to go by, Dave is pretty sure he’ll be… at least a little receptive.

He showers quickly and throws on a clean pair of pajamas. Vaguely, he considers how much fucking laundry is going to be in his future if this is going to be a regular occurance. Is it worth it?

Fuck yeah, it’s worth it.

He’s already sitting on the couch when Karkat comes back in the room. He hopes that Karkat will sit with him, close to him, maybe in his lap again-- maybe that’s too forward for him to wish for.

Instead, he just says, “Hey,” like a very cool kid that he is.

Karkat tries to be cool about the way he dumps his blankets and pillows down, and lets out a sigh as he slumps beside Dave, close enough that their thighs are touching. Though if anyone were to mention it, he'd say something about Dave being so fat that his gravitational pull is dragging Karkat towards him.

"I really needed that shower." Karkat replies, because saying  _ hey _ is awkward. He leans into Dave, he misses his touch, shoulder to shoulder with the blonde.

When purring erupts in his chest again, though, he flushes and grabs at the space over where his lungs would be, fisting his shirt and pouting like;  _ Really, me? We're not even having sex and you're going to out me like this? _

"Also, you humans are so fucking weird," Karkat says through his purrs, to ease the tension he can already feel building. "You- White? White genetic material? Its so thick, and there’s- You produce a pitiful amount of it. You'd be dead if you ever had to fill a bucket."

“Yeah, I would never even try to fill a cereal bowl, let alone a bucket.”

Dave wants to make another smart remark, say anything about the way Karkat is rambling, but he can’t bring himself to. The fact that Karkat sat so close to him, and that Karkat is still purring, it… It makes a pink blush rise on Dave’s cheeks, and only solidifies what he wants to say.

“So, here’s the thing…” he starts. “You know that I don’t… understand the whole quadrant thing. I just don’t get it. But something you said the other day really got me thinking…”

Dave chews his lip for a moment. He regrets not putting his shades back on before coming out here again.

“You said you don’t know how you feel, because you can’t tell what color it is. What if it’s just… not a color. All the colors. When humans date, it’s all wrapped up into one person, and… I mean, have you ever considered…?”

He’s not sure if he’s making any sense. For him, it makes perfect sense. There’s no reason he should have to fit into one of Karkat’s quadrants, if he doesn’t want to share Karkat anyway.

“What I’m trying to say is, I like you. But I don’t want it to be restricted by… whatever rules you think we have to follow. Just like.. Regular human dating.”

Karkat stares. And stares. Stares some more, at Dave. As he speaks, he realises that its not as bad as he thought. Dave isn't cutting him off, or telling him that he doesn't love him, that he just wants to fuck—

But as Dave keeps talking, he starts to think that maybe its worse than what he thought.

Regular... human, dating?

Wh- What  _ is _ , regular human dating?

As far as he understands it, the four quadrants are for soulmates, or lovers, friends, but a bit more, rivals, and— another friendly quadrant that he couldn't explain, but understands in his head.

He doesn't want to be... restricted? What does he mean? Does he want to see someone else outside of Karkat? To  _ love _ someone outside of Karkat? The thought makes his stomach churn, and his purring abruptly ceases.

"What?" Is the first thing out of his mouth. He opens it and then shuts it, and purses his lips. "Dating. I assume you don't mean like, marking things on a calendar." He says dumbly, pulling a pillow to his chest to ground himself. All... All of the colours in one person? In one relationship? He doesn't get it.

"You're gonna need to elaborate a little bit." Karkat says, not sure he's going to love Dave's explanation.

Dave isn’t sure what else to say. He has to think about it for a moment before he says anything else.

“It’s like…”

He stops, thinks about it, starts again.

“It’s like, when you won’t stop talking and all I want to do is smack you. And when we fall asleep watching netflix together. And when… I kissed you earlier, and my heart wouldn’t stop racing. All wrapped up into one.”

Dave runs a hand through his hair. Shit, this is hard. He’s nervous, and he wants to shrink down into the couch cushions.

“It’s just two people. One quadrant. All the feelings, all the shit. Just. Together. No one else.”

Karkat glances away from Dave to think.

"So..." He starts, pursing his lips. "You.. Want to kill the person sometimes, and other times you want to love them, and other times, you're just friends?" He asks, not sure if he's understanding this right. He thinks he does, but he wants to be sure, because if thats what Dave means, then Karkat has some serious thinking to do.

That— The thought, the idea, of that, it sounds... it sounds like it doesn't quite... fit in with anything that trolls have as part of their society. It sounds  _ taboo. _

But what if he says that he doesn't want to do this... human, dating, thing, with Dave?

Heartache, he assumes. Dave will probably cut him off, and Karkat will spend the rest of his life getting familar with the— He shudders.  _ Five knuckle shuffle. _

He doesn't want that. He wants to sit on Dave's face again. Share the same bed. Make coffee in the morning and let it go cold on the nightstand while they fuck the day away. He wants Dave to be happy, he wants to be happy with Dave. 

Karkat swallows.

"I... I really, really, really like you," He says. "And I want to- to  _ be _ , with you. When I said red, I- I think I'm... fuck, I think I'm flushed. I'm not... totally sure, but I know that I want to be with you all the time, even if you fucking suck on the odd occasion."

Karkat chews his lip again, curses when he reopens the wound. 

"What you're suggesting, its... Its unheard of. its weird. It might take me a while to get used to it, but if- If it means we can keep doing what we've been doing, and be..." His cheeks heat up, and the ghost of a purr rumbles up his throat. "Be... together, then I— Then I want to make it... to make it work. Somehow."

“I like you, too…” Dave says, quietly, and a smile is starting to creep up on his face despite how torn Karkat still looks.

“We can call it whatever you want. If you want to be matesprites, then we can, I just want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to feel bad about feeling other things for me, either. And I don’t want… you do have other people. In other quadrants… I don’t think I would ever be comfortable with that.”

Dave reaches for Karkat’s hand, needing something to hold onto at this point.

“We can just… feel it out as we go.Keep touching. Keep… kissing.”

God, he wants to kiss Karkat again right now. He’s never wanted something more.

“We can start by going back to bed, together.”

Karkat stares at Dave's hand in his. He glances up at him, back down to his hand.

"I don't want to do... this, with anyone else," He mumbles. "It— I just don't, You know? Maybe its weird. But I... Yeah. Yeah."

Karkat shuffles closer, rests his forehead on Dave's shoulder, closes his eyes. Dave is easy. He's easy to love, he's easy to be around, he's easy to be comfortable with. 

And damn it, he's going to start purring again, he knows it. 

His suggestion of feeling it out, testing the waters makes Karkat feel... warm. Makes him feel happy, knowing that Dave wants him like Karkat wants him. 

Karkat intertwines their fingers, sits in the silence for a moment.

"Can—" He flushes red and purses his lips. "I just wanna go to bed and uh... be close. To you." Karkat whispers. Not sex, no, he's too tired for that right now, and happy being clean. He just wants Dave to hold him, to kiss him, to have him with him.

Dave grins fondly and nods. “‘Course we can,” he says. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He stands and doesn’t let go of Karkat’s hand. He leads Karkat all the way to bed, where he spends the rest of the night holding Karkat and kissing him and nuzzling into him.

It passes like a dream-- there’s no way this could be real. Two weeks ago, they were friends, room mates, and now? He can’t imagine sleeping without him.

* * *

A few days go by, and Sollux hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the bizarre way Karkat signed off their last game together. He’s  _ positive _ he could hear Karkat purring on the other end of the line, and there are very few reasons that would be happening.

TA: hey, 2hiit2taiin.  
TA: iim hungry

Karkat is reading when his phone buzzes beside him. He almost groans as he picks it up and brings it to his face, setting down his book as he taps out a reply, frowning.

Sollux.

CG: AND?  
CG: I'M NOT YOUR LUSUS.  
CG: OR YOUR MOM.  
CG: OR ANY KIND OF CARETAKER.  
CG: GO AND GET FOOD.

Sollux rolls his eyes and quickly taps out another text.

TA: iim askiing you out two eat wiith me a22hole  
TA: meet me at one or ii wiill never iinvite you out agaiin

Karkat stares. Why does Sollux suddenly want to go out to eat? 

Whatever.

CG: UGH. FINE.  
CG: ONE? THATS LIKE, HALF AN HOUR.  
CG: WHERE, NERD?

He stands up. "Dave! Where are you, you motherfuck?" He yells to the house. "I'm going out for food with Sollux."

Sollux texts Karkat the cafe he wants to meet at, and then shoves his phone in his pocket. He’s going to stay mad about it, for no reason, even if he’s glad to be seeing Karkat. It’s been a while, and he missed his friend.

Stupid asshole of a friend, purring all explicitly on mic for everyone in the world to hear. It brings heat to Sollux’ cheeks just remembering it.

He sits in the cafe with some type of calming tea, he doesn’t fucking know. Karkat is late, and he’s getting more irritated as the seconds pass.

Karkat is only late because he spent too long kissing Dave goodbye. Stupid attractive— boyfriend, matesprit,  _ person _ , almost had him staying with his damn mouth.

But alas, he had torn himself away to get to the cafe Sollux had asked him to get to, and when he arrived, he slumped into the chair opposite with a huff, snapping his fingers for a waiter. He needs coffee.

"Its been a while since you invited me anywhere," Karkat remarks, after a hasty greeting and a grouchy ordering of some strong caffeine. "Any occasion, or were you just feeling especially lonely?"

“Don’t snap around here like an asshole, asshole, the waitstaff are people, too.” Sollux glares at Karkat through his bicolored glasses. “And don’t act like you didn’t fucking miss me, I know you did.”

He takes another irritated sip of his tea, before his glare morphes into something more suspicious.

“Are you going to tell me what happened the other day, or do I have to make it awkward for you by saying I already know?”

The other troll rolls his eyes, staring at his coffee as its set down in front of him. He listens to Sollux speak, taking a sip of his coffee, and then promptly spits it out to the side and almost flips up their table.

"Sorry, what? Tell you about what? Whats awkward? What the fuck are you on about? What the fuck do you  _ know? _ " He asks in a nervous-angry ramble, not caring that they were being stared at as he lowers his voice. "Is this about the game the other night?"

Sollux raises one eyebrow, then both as Karkat keeps talking. Well, if he wasn’t fucking suspicious before, he as fuck is now.

“Jegus, dude. Yeah, it’s about the game, and the  _ p-- _ ” Sollux stops to lower his voice to a harsh whisper, because this isn’t really a conversation they should be having in public. “And the  _ purring, _ Karkat. What the fuck was that? And why are you being so weird right now?”

Karkat goes so red he thinks he might explode. His cheeks are so hot, and when he recalls  _ that _ night, he feels himself growing aroused.

He forces the feeling down. Way, way, way, violently, way, down.

"Why do you fucking care?" Karkat hisses, leaning over the table to hide his face and speak even quieter, scowling. "It was fucking nothing, okay? You were obviously hearing interference or some shit, because I was  _ not _ purring. I don't purr."

Plan A; Denial.

Karkat has no plan after plan A. He hopes to whatever god exists that Sollux buys it, because he has no idea what else to do or say after this.

“I  _ care _ because that shit was borderline pornographic, and it made me--” 

Sollux stops, lips pressed into a hard line. He’s dangerously close to exposing some deep down buried shit, and he doesn’t want to go down that road today.

“It made me really uncomfortable, dude, are you out of your pan? Who were you with and why couldn’t it wait?”

His fingers grip his paper cup so hard, it dents on one side.

He also just wants to know what’s going on with Karkat. As his friend, he hasn’t caught up with Karkat in a while, and if he’s  _ seeing someone-- _

Well, Sollux would like to know about it.

Karkat swallows. Swallows  _ hard _ . He- He trusts Sollux, right? He can trust him, can't he? And he's one of his closer friends, so why is it so taboo to tell him that he's  _ seeing _ Dave?

But then, what does he say? That they're matesprits? He doesn't know how Sollux will react if he tells him that they're doing the human dating thing, and Palemates is the closest thing Karkat can think of calling it without straying too far from the truth.

"I- It-" He stutters, cursing.

"Ah, fuck, Sollux. It was stupid." He grouched, his face so red now that he's hiding it in his hands. "It was a dumb accident and it couldn't wait because  _ they _ wouldn't wait and I didn't want to back down from your competitive ass."

He scowls.

Okay, maybe he does have a Plan B.  _ Blame Sollux. _

“Don’t you  _ dare _ try to blame me for this,” Sollux starts, eyes narrowed dangerously at Karkat across the table.

He picks up on a few key facts, though, that he takes a second to pick apart.

One. Karkat was definitely having sex while talking to him on the chat, the lewd, promiscuous bastard.

Two. It has to be someone that Karkat is regularly having sex with, considering that Karkat let it happen without a fight.

Three. Karkat is red-faced and stuttering and holy shit, Karkat  _ definitely _ has a secret matesprite or kismesis.

Sollux doesn’t know how to feel about any of this. He feels  _ angry, _ hurt, betrayed, all things he very much should not be feeling at a time like this.

He swallows the lump in his throat and asks, casually, as a friend, “Who are you seeing? Is it red or black?”

Karkat swallows, sitting back to play with his hands sheepishly like a kid caught out in a lie. In a way, he is. Or was.

"It... Its red... Sort of... mostly...—" He stutters. "It- Its more- They're more- Palemate, I guess—" Karkat tries to explain, sounding stupid. He feels stupid, like spending time with Dave has confused his understanding of quadrants and romance.

"I- Its- He just-" He stammers, heaving as he takes another sip of his coffee, drawing it out to avoid answering as long as he can.

"I guess he's-, Its more... matesprit? Fuck, I don't know. I don't know what we'd call it. We- We're intimate, but we're still— close friends. We're close friends, but its not like we never fight. We fight, but we still— Love? Each other? Fuck. I'm flushed for him, I'm sure, but he—"

Karkat stammers again, wringing his hands.

"Why'd you have to ask me that?"

Sollux’ eyes widen while Karkat stammers away, realizing almost immediately that it must be a human. There’s no other reason that Karkat, self proclaimed romance expert, would be getting this tripped up over simple quadrants.

And which human is in Karkat’s house in the middle of the night?  _ Touching him _ while he’s on the phone with Sollux?

Sollux’ face is hot all over again, for too many reasons to keep track of. His heart sinks coldly in his chest by comparison, and he hates every second of it.

“It’s Dave, right?” he asks, his voice unsettlingly calm. “You’re seeing Dave? How long?”

When Sollux guesses Dave, Karkat almost laughs nervously. Were their feelings for each other that obvious?

"It— Uh. Yeah." He swallows, twiddling his thumbs and avoiding looking at Sollux. Is it just him, or it Sollux... blushing?

He sneaks another glance, and it looks like he is, but he puts it down to the warmth outside, or, maybe Karkat is hallucinating. Maybe he's finally lost it.

"About a... a few months? I think. Sort of since we moved in together," Karkat explains, swallowing. "It started as fooling around, but got more serious." 

He shakes his head. "Honestly, it- Its not a big deal, I don't get whats with the fucking interrogation."

Karkat pouts and crosses his arms. "It was a dumb slip up, get over it."

Sollux sucks in a breath at being told to  _ get over it. _

He sits back in his chair, arms crossed, and doesn’t say anything for a long moment.

“You know, you’re being a real asshole. And I don’t mean that in the  _ haha Karkat’s just being an asshole again _ kind of way. I mean really. You’re being a fucking prick.”

His nerves go flat all of a sudden, and he’s not feeling very friendly anymore.

“I thought that we were friends, and all I wanted was to know what was going on with you. I missed you.”

Sollux gets up then, leaving his tea on the table. “You can text me when you’re done being a bastard,” he says, and turns to leave.

Karkat takes Sollux' long silence as a moment to say  _ fuck _ in his head. He knows he's done something wrong, because Sollux isn't saying anything, and he's sat back in his chair with folded arms. Before Karkat can apologize, though, his friend is standing to leave with bitter words in his tongue, and Karkat feels a stone sink into his stomach.

_ Fuck. _

But why- why had Sollux taken that so personally? Karkat had only meant,  _ Stop asking me about why I purred and who I'm dating, it shouldn't be this big a deal _ . He hadn't meant to hurt Sollux' feelings somehow, he didn't even understand how he had.

God, he felt dumb. Sollux's  _ 'I missed you.' _ Is like a knife to the chest, and he wants to call for him to wait, to apologize, so get up and say something  _ do _ something, but he's stunned into silence and a dumb kind of numbness, like he's just realised that he's been stood up at a date.

People are staring. He's angry. Angry-sad. He wants Dave. He wants Sollux— He wants to make things right with Sollux, but his ego won't let him chase after his friend, who is already leaving.

_ Fuck him. My love life is none of his fucking business. He was prying. _

Karkat tries to justify it in his head as he gets to his feet and drops some coins onto the table to pay. 

His throat is tight and he feels like crying all of a sudden. He's angrier now, and when one of the wait staff ask if he's alright, he's shoving past them with a snarl to stalk home, blaming everyone but himself,  _ including Dave. _ If he hadn't been so  _ fucking handsy, _ so  _ fucking eager _ , then this wouldn't have happened.

Fuck everything.

It only serves to make Sollux even more pissed, that Karkat doesn’t try to stop him. He doesn’t say a  _ word, _ let alone an apology, and well.

That’s that, he guesses.

He doesn’t need that stupid bastard, anyway. Pitch feelings, be damned.

If Karkat is with  _ Dave, _ Sollux knows for a fact that that particular human doesn’t understand quadrants, anyway. And it seems like it’s confused the hell out of Karkat-- he doesn’t even know what color his feelings are.

Stupid. Stupid asshole.

Maybe this is what Sollux gets for assuming Karkat would catch on eventually.

* * *

At home, Dave is doing his damndest to try and cook some lunch. He’s the furthest thing from a chef, and it’s not much, but he told Karkat that he would cook, so here he is.

...Doing something that certainly resembles cooking.

He’s not sure when Karkat will be home from seeing Sollux, so he keeps messing with it. Maybe if he adds enough shit, it’ll turn into a real meal.

When Karkat does eventually get home, it's after he's done a lot of thinking. First, about how he was so insensitive to Sollux, and he's a bad friend, and second, about how stupid he is to have tried to blame  _ Dave _ for his problems. Go you, Karkat. You're just so nice, aren't you?

Now he feels even more confused.

He's known Sollux since forever. Sollux looks out for him, worries about him,  _ cares _ about him, and Karkat should know by now that he doesn't just let things go. Not because he's a dick, but because he just  _ cares _ . And now Karkat's gone and made him mad. 

_ I missed you. _

Seeing Sollux for the first time in a while reawakened something in Karkat's chest that he doesn't want to delve into. But it makes him hurt enough to know that he'll apologize this time.

But he wants a hug first.

He slouches in the door, and rather than chime his usual greeting to Dave, he simply slips up behind him and wraps his arms around his waist to press his face into the back of his neck, trying to ignore the way his heart is thudding and stomach is twisting with anxiety and upset, and the way his mind is racing with questions and uncertainties.

The silent way Karkat hugs him has Dave immediately on high alert.

He lets it happen, for a few long moments, just to see if Karkat will say anything. When he doesn’t, Dave stops what he’s doing and puts a hand on top of Karkat’s, concern vibrating through him and starting to make him anxious.

“What’s the matter, babe?” he asks. He tries not to let his voice waiver. If Karkat is upset about something, Dave needs to stay normal for him.

Karkat doesn't move or say anything for a while, just leans into Dave and takes in his comforting smell. When he asks whats wrong, he grunts, pressing his face deeper into Dave's back.

"I upset Sollux," Karkat mumbles shamefully, hugging Dave a little tighter. "He asked about- about my relationship, and then about you, and he- he was just asking questions, and I snapped at him for no good reason."

His voice cracks, and he curses for letting himself get this upset over something small and stupid. He'll call Sollux after this, apologize, and it'll be fine, it'll all go back to normal, so why does he have this nagging worry?

“Are… Are you crying?” Dave asks, worry creeping into his voice whether he likes it or not.

He turns in Karkat’s arms and hugs him tight around the shoulders. “Why don’t you call him and talk to him? If it was nothing, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Karkat grunts, hugging Dave a little tighter. He feels a bit of tension leak out of him as Dave returns his gesture, and sighs, leaning into him.

"Yeah." He whispered, pressing his face into Dave's shoulder, taking in his comforting scent. "Yeah, I will."

**Author's Note:**

> Dave: [@br0jangles](https://twitter.com/br0jangles)  
> Karkat: [@Apiaristic](https://twitter.com/Apiaristic)


End file.
